Mastering the Body
by Telas Of The Organization
Summary: To master the Body is to gain strenght, but it comes at a price. Naruto succeeds in retrieving Sasuke, but in the process he losses much. With one of his dreams now seemingly out of reach, Naruto must face the truth of what he wants, and what he has lost.


Disclaimer: I do not presently, or have ever, owned Naruto, or any characters, situations, or settings that exist within Naruto. I am using characters and settings that do not belong to me and I will not make any money/receive any gifts from the writing of this story. This is merely practice for writing and I will remove any and all stories that I post at the Owner's request.

Prologue: Broken Hero's

Almost every person alive has heard the saying, 'Mind over matter', or some variation of it, like 'The mind mastering the body'. What is usually not mentioned or thought about is what exactly this entails and what the ramifications of doing so are. 'Mind over matter' means, basically, that one ignores, blocks out, or simply does not notice pain. This can lead a person to do many things they could not normally do, even allow them to endure through great suffering. An example of this is someone who is being tortured. If that person can truly have their mind master their body then they could withstand far longer, than they could otherwise. However, there are many unmentioned dangers, or risks that go along with this philosophy.

A person who truly cannot feel pain or does not allow pain to be acknowledged, can literally fight until the moment they die. Many times the person themselves will not even realize how close they are to dying, until that fatal line is crossed. The simple reason for this is that pain, however unpleasant and distracting, serves a vital purpose to everyone alive. Pain is the body telling the mind that it has been damaged. To ignore pain is to ignore the warnings and the fact that the body is damaged. To a person that has pushed the sensation of pain from their mind, there is no understanding of their wounds or how damaging they are. While it is true that damaging parts of the body and allowing them to heal is the basis of getting stronger, there comes a point that every human body reaches where the damage cannot be repaired. If the life is to be saved, then something must be sacrificed: A arm mangled beyond repair must be removed, or a damaged organ needs to be replaced. To a person who feels no pain, such a limit will never be noticed until it has been crossed.

While it is correct that truly mastering one's body can lead to great strength, it should also be understood that it can cause great suffering. Such is the nature of all power.

_Konoha_

Sasuke had reached that strange place in-between being awake and unconscious. Unlike lucid dreaming, where a person knows there asleep and dreaming and are thus able to control their dreams, Sasuke was experiencing something different, but similar. He was awake, but for all intents and purposes, his body was still asleep.

As Sasuke lay there, his mind was trying to piece together what had happened. His mind, however, was in disarray. Thoughts slipped away like sand between his fingers. He couldn't concentrate on any one thing for more than a moment and strange thoughts (or were they memories?) flowed through his mind.

_**Sound ninja…**_

_**Darkness surrounding him…**_

_**Freedom and with it power greater than any he had ever felt…**_

_**Naruto…**_

_**Battle…**_

_**Blood everywhere…**_

_**Why wouldn't he stay down?…**_

_**Why?…**_

_**Naruto…**_

_**Pain like his very skin was being melted off…**_

_**A dark satisfaction as he took a deep breath and point blank…**_

Sasuke lost the train of thought and as his mind lay there momentarily at peace, he heard voices from nearby. He couldn't understand what they were talking about, though. Nothing was fitting together the way it was supposed to. He couldn't attach meaning to certain words and he felt he should be able to understand but the context was eluding him.

"Do you know what happened? Why he…did… what he did?"

"Of course I know! I am the great Jiraiya, master of… well, you know the rest. Do you know?"

"Not yet. Tsunade is still working on him as we speak, but she wanted a report on Sasuke as well, so if you could?"

"Yeah, well the seal is gone, as if it was never there. Well, except for the burn. That means the kid should have regained some semblance of control now. You can tell Tsunade that the kid isn't getting any more power from that thing."

"Wait, so you're saying that the seal was responsible for his behavior?"

"Yes and no. The seal is like a drug. The first time you take it, the effects are at their greatest. The Uchiha was at his craziest when he hit level 2 for the first time, or so we assume from the medicine that we found on one of the enemy's body. As he would have used the seal more and more, he would have built up a resistance to its effects, allowing him to think more clearly when using it. However, like a drug, he would be compelled to use it more and more often to have the same feeling of overwhelming power. So yes, the seal was affecting his thoughts but at the same time, Sasuke was the one who chose to use the seal. It's the person's fault for taking the drug the first time, even if we understand the addiction is difficult to control."

"So it is the Uchiha's fault?"

"For leaving the village, yes. For using the Seal, yes. For what he did to Naruto…somewhat."

"All right then. I'll go…Tsunade!"

"Shizune, Jiraiya."

"Does that mean… is he…?"

"I did everything that I could."

"He's not dead! He can't be!"

"Calm down Jiraiya! He's not dead or dying!"

"But you said…you made it sound like…"

"He's not going to die, and he will still be able to be a shinobi, I made sure of that, but…even I have my limits, and apparently so does the Kyuubi."

"What! What do you mean the Kyuubi has limits! It's probably the closest thing to all powerful in this world!"

"Naruto's body can only handle so much! Kyuubi's chakra is caustic. Too much and Naruto dies! Kyuubi could only heal some of the injuries. Thank Kami for that much at least. If not for the Kyuubi's regeneration, he wouldn't have made it at all!"

"But then…"

"The rest of the injuries had to be healed normally and medical ninjutsu can only do so much."

"How bad is it?"

"I did my best but…but…"

"It's all right! I know you did your best! Don't cry!"

"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry."

Sasuke began to slip deeper into unconsciousness; darkness seeming to swallow his mind and for some reason he was happy that he couldn't hear anymore. Their words reminded him of something, something terrible. One last memory passed through his mind as the darkness took him.

_**Fire consumed everything before him. Even as he fell he could smell the burning flesh.**_

And it sickened him.

**AN: For those of you waiting for an update on my other story, I apologize for the terrible delay and promise to try to get the next chapter up within a week. I've just had way to much crazy happening in my life to focus. More info then.**


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